Ingredients

Method

Preheat your oven to 175ºC / 350ºF

Grease flour and line the base of three 20cm (8”) cake tins.

In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, sugar and salt.

Cut your butter into around 20-24 pieces and with the paddle attachment turning put one piece of butter at a time into the mixture until it has been incorporated. repeat with all the pieces of butter. Once all the pieces of butter have been incorporated the mixture will have a sand like texture.

Whisk together the buttermilk, eggs, vanilla extract and almond extract and slowly add the liquid to the cake mixture a little at a time on a low speed until all the mixture is incorporated, scraping down the sides as you go.

Gently fold in the coconut and walnuts.

Divide the batter into the cake tins as evenly as possible. Place on the centre shelf of the oven and bake for 30 minutes. If you cannot get all three cake tins in the oven at once leave one on the side and bake when the other two are cooked. You can test if the cakes are cooked by inserting a toothpick in the centre of the cake and if it comes out clean or with a few crumbs on it, it is cooked.

Cool the cakes in their tins and then using a knife , run it around the edge of the cake tins and turn the cakes out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Frosting

You can now prepare the frosting whilst your cakes are cooling.

In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, place the butter and cream cheese and beat together until the mixture is well combined and soft and creamy. Add (1 1/2 teaspoons) of vanilla extract, (1/2 teaspoon ) almond extract and salt and mix thoroughly.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl making sure all the mixture in thoroughly mixed in.

With the mixer on low speed, add the pre-sifted powdered sugar gradually until all is incorporated. Scrape down the sides again . Your mixture should be thick and creamy.

Assembly

Choose your most level cake for the top of your cake and if any of your cakes need levelling use a serrated knife to level the cakes.

Place a little of the frosting in the middle of the serving plate to stop the cake from sliding and place one cake on the serving plate and put a large blob of frosting on the cake and spread it evenly over the cake. Repeat with the other two layers.

Smooth a thin layer of frosting on the sides of the cake . This is called a crumb coat and it is designed to catch the crumbs. Place the cake in the fridge for 20 minutes.

Remove the cake from the fridge and smooth a thicker layer of frosting over the entire cake. This is your final coat and any extra frosting can be used to decorate the top of the cake. Mix the chopped walnuts and shredded coconut together and sprinkle the mixture onto the cake as you desire. You can go up the sides of the cake with the mixture or just sprinkle it on the top. The world is your oyster as they say.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 48 hours or in the fridge for up to 5 days. You can also wrap the cake layers in cling film individually and freeze them until you are ready to ice them.  N.B. If you cannot get buttermilk use full fat milk and add 1 tablespoon 0f lemon juice per pint of milk. This will give you buttermilk.